Proactiv

As you have read in past blog posts I have been having serious issues with acne for the past two years. I never had acne like this in high school or college. I chalk that up to being on birth control, and my present acne being a hormonal issue. That being said, I will never get back on birth control just to fix an acne problem. I've thought about taking some EstroBlock since most hormonal acne is from Estrogen Dominance.

After trying over the counter acne cleaner and nothing working, I decided to give Proactive a try. The first week was a bit of a struggle. I wasn't seeing a change. In fact, I was seeing my acne get worse. Now they do claim that the first week acne does get worse because the cleaners are pulling out all the dirt from your skin. I was also on my period, so I know this contributed to a lot of the flame up.

I started this treatment Sunday night on 11/17/13 and the last picture I took was this morning. The first week I was on my period so that's why it seems worse.

All these pictures are without makeup and before I used the treatment. Once I use the treatment my face gets a bit red, so I like to take them before hand. 

Gobble Gobble

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I have to say I had one of the best Holidays yet. I didn't take many photos at the in-laws house, but I did at my dads and got a picture of the dessert I tried!

On our way to Paris! Rob is just so thrilled for this 2 hour drive ;) 

Me and my dad

Me, the sister, and dad

No explanation

I'm not sure what's going on here!

Me, dad, and sis

Me throwing a tantrum lol

Rob is so rude to me.. he did this all night!

Red Velvet Cheese Ball with Vanilla Wafers

Ingredients

1 box of Red Velvet Cake Mix (3 cups will be used)

2 packages of cream cheese

2 cups of Sugar

2 cups of Brown Sugar

2 eggs

1 bag of white chocolate chips

1 box of Vanilla Wafers

Directions

Mix everything together except for the chocolate chips and wafers. Once mixed, place on a platter, shape into a ball form, and place in the fridge for 2 hours.

After it has chilled, take it out and put the chocolate chips on the outer side of the cheese ball. 

Place your wafers around.

Super easy and so delicious!!!

Meaty Meat Sale

 There's one thing I try to not skimp on, and that is meat. I have had my fair share of bad meats when I purchased them from WalMart and Aldi. I've never bought a good packaged meat from Aldi. I'll usually just stock up on the basic's at Aldi and then hit up Kroger and Albertson's for my fresh items.

The only thing I buy at Albertson's is meat. I never find any great sale items there. I can always find cheaper deals at Kroger. But Albertson's ALWAYS had Buy One Get One or Buy One Get Two.

B1G1 Pork

This pork was B1G1, I can make 3-4 meals out of these 2 packages which will end up costing me $2.50 a night.

B1G2 Pre-seasoned Chicken

I bought this already seasoned chicken for Buy one get two. I'll make 3 meals for $2.67 a meal in meat.

B1G1 Steak

I bought 2 packages of steak for B1G1. I can make 2 meals for $3.68 a meal in meat.

So for 8 nights of meat I only paid $23.03 with tax. Saving me $29.28 in meat!

Couponing: Week 5

I'm still going strong in my couponing hobby. I wasn't sure if it would stick or not, but I am still finding great deals. I typically shop at Aldi for most of my products (except meat.. I've just had several bad experiences with meat there) so everything I buy, whether it's at Kroger, Target, or Walgreens HAS to be below the prices I get at Aldi, else it's not worth it. If I'm not sure which store has a cheaper item, I check older receipts (yes I keep those) or I look in the weekly ads.

Since Rob and I have started P90X, I have found the need to buy the protein bars. This week I found a lot of great deals on those. Read below to see how!!

First stop: Walgreen's

Supreme Protein Bars - Reg $3 ea. - Sale 2 for $5 - (3) Buy one Get one Free - $7.50 for 6

Total: $8.12 with tax

Before coupons/sale - $18     Saved - $10

Second Stop, Target

Ronzoni Noodles - Reg $1.25 ea - On sale $1 ea - (2) $0.75/1 (2) $1.00/2 

Total - $2.50

Before coupons/sale - $7.50 Saved - $5.00

I got 2 boxes for $0.25 and 4 boxes for $0.50. Can't get better than that!!

Third Stop, Kroger

Now Kroger always has the Buy 10 items and save $5 deals. So I jumped on it this week mainly for the Power Bars and the Campbell's soup.

Power Bars (9) - Reg. $1.25 - Sale $0.49 - CP (3) $1.50/3 = FREE (9)

Campbell's Cream of Chicken - Reg $1.00 ea - Sale $0.50 - CP $0.40/4 and $0.40/2 = $2.20 (6) or $0.36 ea

Betty Crocker Cake Mix - Red $1.50 - Sale $0.99 = $0.99

Betty Crocker Mac and Cheese - Reg. $1.00 - Sale $0.49 -CP $0.25/1 = $0.24

Velveeta Cheesy Skillet - Reg $2.50 - Sale $1.99 - CP (2) $0.55/1 = $2.88 (2) or $1.44 ea

Celestial Tea - Reg $3/ea - Sale 2/$5 - CP (2) $1.00/1 = $3 or $1.50 ea

Total - $9.31

Before coupons/sale - $30.75 Saving - $21.44

 Final Stop - TJMaxx

I didn't actually do any couponing here, and I'm sure I could have found these somewhere else for cheaper. But since we are doing P90X we purchased two resistance bands for us to use. Totaling $12.00

Payless

I purchased these at Payless on sale for $12.00! So excited!

A Twist on Ham

Last week when I went grocery shopping I picked up an already cooked ham. It was only $7 and it was large enough that I knew I could make several meals out of it. This is one of the key things I look for when shopping is how to get more food for my buck, and how to make one item longer than one meal. Of course most would think this is obvious, but we tend to forget to look for these deals.

I've already used the ham a couple times for breakfast. Just slicing it up and putting in my eggs.

Here are two other meals for using ham.

Ham Mac and Cheese
Probably one of the most unhealthy meals ever. I literally just mixed a bunch of random stuff together, but it turned out pretty good!

The Broccoli Mac and Cheese is a BirdsEye Steamer. I was worried it would taste pretty gross, but it actually tastes like normal mac & cheese.
Add in the ham, and topped with Stove Top Stuffing. Viola. - Non-healthy, delicious food.

 Ham and Broccoli Salad
Broccoli Salad is one of Rob's favorite side dishes. You'll probably see me making this alot. I got the idea from his mom who makes the best side dishes ever! This just happens to be one of the easiest dishes to make.

For the broccoli salad just mix together all of these ingredients:
1 head of broccoli
1/2 chopped red onion
1/2 chopped green pepper
1/2 chopped cucumber
6 slices of bacon
1 TBS of white vinegar
1 cup mayo
1/2 a block of cheddar cheese

New Car Scent

When I was in high school my parents bought me my very first car! a 2004 Nissan Sentra. I was so excited I had a car. I've been fortunate enough to be able to keep that car until recently. It's lasted almost 10 years for me with very little problems.

Rob and I finally decided it was time to trade in that car for a newer model. I didn't want to buy a new car, since they depreciate as soon as you drive it off the lot. So after our research, we decided to get a Toyota Camry. Toyota's are one of the best cars made, with great gas mileage (which is key since Rob drives an hour every day), and had a great trade in value.

We found this bad boy for $15,889 with extremely low mileage. It drove extremely smooth.. better than our Infinite.. has a touch screen for the radio, and it very comfortable on the inside.
These aren't the actual pictures of our car, but it looks just like this.

2012 Toyota Camry

Inside of our Camry.

Whatcha think??

Couponing: Second Month

Good Morning!! I am finally on my second month of couponing. I am starting to think that most of my major deals happen during the first week of every month. I haven't really couponed the last few weeks since I haven't seen any great deals. But I woke up at 7AM on my day off to get started before the rush of people hit the stores.

My first stop this morning was at Walmart. They didn't have all the deals I wanted, and I apparently had printed off fake coupons as well. Walmart has been experiencing a lot of fraudulent couponing lately so they are making it a little more difficult to coupon. I happened to lose my receipt for this, but I can give you a pretty close amount. 

Lady Speed Stick - $1.98 - Free after Mail in Rebate = $0.00

Rimmel Nail polish - $1.50 on sale - $1/1 = $0.50

Clearasil - $3.49 - $1/1 = $2.49

Total cost = $2.99

Before coupons:  $6.97 Savings: $3.98

My next two stops I went to Walgreens. The first one I went to didn't have 2 products I was looking for, so I went to another store.

My first Walgreens:

TRESemme Hair Spray - Buy one at $4.99 get the other 50% off - $7.48 for two.

I used (2) $2 off 1 TRESemme product, totalling -3.48

Clear Care Contact Lens Cleaner - Reg. $10.99, on sale for $8.99

I used a Walgreens $2/1 and a MF $1.50/1 Totalling - $5.49

(I got $2/1 Clear care contact at check out. so I can do this purchase again for $4.49.. that's $7 cheaper for 2 than I'd normally pay at walmart)

Bubble Knee High stockings - Reg. 2/$1 - Walgreens Coupon 3/$1 - $0.33 each

Total cost = $9.71

Before coupons: $22.50 Saved: $12.79

Second Walgreen's

Morton Salt - Reg. 1.19 ea, Walgreen coupon 2 for $1 - $0.50 each

Butterball Turkey Bacon - Reg. $1.99 - on sale for $0.99 - $1/1 coupon = FREE

Total = $1.00

Before coupons: $4.38 Savings: $3.38

My fourth stop was at Kroger. They were having a Buy 10 Participating Items, and get $5.00 off.

Playtex Gentle Glide - Reg. $2.99 - on sale $2.49 - $2/1 coupon = $0.49 each (2)

Bird View Steam Fresh - Reg.$1.99 - on sale $1.49 = $1.49 (3)

Noodles - Reg. $1.99 - Sale $0.48 = $0.48 (2)

Ore-Ida - Reg. $2.99 - on sale $2.49 - $1/1 Coupon = $1.49

Silk Milk - Reg. $2.99 - on sale $2.49 - $1/1 coupon = $1.49

Miracle Whip - Reg. $3.99 - on sale $2.99 = $2.99

Total = $12.30

Before Coupons: $32.01 Savings: $19.71

My last stop was at Target. I used coupons, a mobile app, and Target Cartwheel. Once again, I lost my receipt!

Campbell's Chunky - Reg. $1.69 - on sale $1.44 - 5% off cartwheel- $0.75/2 coupon = $2.03 for 2

Up and Up toothbrushes - Reg. $1.42 - (2) $1/1 coupon = $0.42 each (2)

Ajax - Reg. $1.87 - $0.75/1 coupon - $1.12

Bananas - Reg. $1.03 - Target mobile $1/$1 or more fruits = $0.03

Broccoli - Reg. $1.99 - Target mobile $1/$1 or more veggie = $0.99

Bread - Reg. $1.00 - Target mobile $1/$1 or more bread = FREE

Onion - Paid full price = $0.71

Total = $5.63

Before Coupons: $12.82 Savings: $7.19

Before Coupons: $78.68

Total Shopping Amount Spent: $31.63

Savings: $47.05

About 60% savings!

Free Samples!

It's been a couple days since I've been able to write a post on here. It's been a hectic 3 days! If you've read my earlier posts, I created a Cleaning Schedule for Rob and I to keep up with to make our lives easier on the weekend. It's been working out great so far! I just skipped Monday's vacuuming, which I will be making up for sometime this week.

I have, however, gotten some more free samples in!!
Last week I received a sample pack from Bodycology for some lotion. I've never tried them before, and my hands are always really dry! Especially during the cold season. I was very impressed with them though. Not only did the lotion make my hands feel better, it actually lasted for a couple hours.

loved this stuff!

 Monday I received my free sample of Garnier shampoo and conditioner. It comes with 3 different samples, so I will be using these tonight :)

I love getting free stuff!! This has been my recent addiction, along with couponing. :) It cures my shopping needs at least!

New Cleaning Schedule

Today started off a little rough for me. I, unfortunately, was a little depressed over a couple things in my life. Mainly the fact that I can't ever seem to keep up with the house work. Usually by the time I get home at night from work, I am in no mood to be cleaning. Although I get off at 5 pm, I still have to come home and take care of the dog, cook, and then take a shower for the next day. This barely leaves me time to clean, and with Rob getting home around 7:30, I can imagine how he wouldn't want to clean either.

So, I came up with a Cleaning Schedule, which I tried to implement in our lives before. As long as we do a little throughout the week, we will barely have to clean on the weekend. This will be completely opposite of what we typically do, which is clean all of Saturday.

Here is a peak at our new schedule.

Cleaning Schedule

I will be posting this in a plastic slip cover so I can alternate who does what during the week. I'll keep everyone posted on how well this works!

Halloween 2013

Happy Halloween!! I am 2 days late on this post since I have been swamped at work. I have literally been going to bed at 8 pm the last few nights since it's been so hectic. We did, however, get to dress up for work which I was overly thrilled out! But turns out only 2 others decided to dress up with me. Whomp whomp.

Kitty Cat.

 One thing I was extremely excited about is the card I received from The Ronald McDonald House in Dallas. I worked so hard to get everyone together to help out, so this just made my day when I got a card from them! And all the families signed that were there.

My super savings at Pizza Hut! I got two pizza which normally should have been $24 for $4.36.

I received 2 $10 gift cards from a survey I participated in, which paid for our meal for a couple days!

 I also got a free sample of Bodycology Charmed Apple lotion from FreeFlys.com

Can't wait to try it!